For years, political insiders have speculated whether or not U.S. Rep. Jared Polis has designs on higher office. After spending millions of his own money getting elected to the state board of education and then Congress, folks have been waiting to see when he would employ that tactic on a statewide run.
Polis waiting for his turn, perhaps?
Well, the time seems to be fast approaching. In the last week, Polis has made significant moves to clean up his act. First, by deleting some negative tweets, and then by announcing that he was distancing himself from having a direct role in the fight to ban fracking.
First, the tweets… Polis had referred to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) as “Tehran Tom” for writing an open letter, signed by 47 GOP senators, to the leaders of Iran. The disparaging tweets were reported on several weeks ago. What’s interesting, however, is that it took Polis 5 weeks to delete them, which he did on April 13th.
The timing is suspicious and indicates the move was more calculated than someone who deletes a careless tweet immediately.
On to Exhibit B… distancing himself from the anti-frackers. E&E News published a recent story analyzing the political implications of Polis’s financial support for last summer’s fracking ban initiatives. Polis’s political advisers tried to spin the story hard in his favor, saying that his heavy-handed tactics “garnered a lot of respect.”
While we disagree, we don’t blame them for trying to put a positive light on things. But the truth is, Polis is distancing himself from the anti-frackers because it doesn’t benefit him in a run for statewide office. Voters want a candidate who is bringing jobs to Colorado, not driving them out of the state.
When E&E News asked Polis about his aspirations for higher office, he gave a boilerplate response: “I really enjoy the work that I’m doing…. I don’t have any plans other than to serve this term, serving the people of Colorado.”
That is about the same thing Cory Gardner was saying a year before he announced his Senate run. But actions speak louder than words, and Polis’s actions tell us he’s gearing up for something.